Zoo and Castle Bourbansais — Attraction in Saint-Malo

One of the most amazing zoos in France. Spectacles are great and numerous. Just the view of the splendid giraffes in front of the wonderful castle is worth the visit. All the animals are perfectly taken care of. The furs, feathers and manes are splendid, the cages are clean and the amenities, games and plants in the cages looks as nice as one can imagine. Many wonderful flowers are everywhere: in the animal cages and all over the park. While still being a place where animals are in cages, apart from the big felines they all seem to have a very good life. Monkeys, otters, suricates are all playing with one another making the joy of the viewers. In 2 cages, visitors can enter : the lemurs and the ibis and the animals moves around the visitors and can be observed a few inches away. As lemurs go, they even put their paws in your pockets or climb your back if you stay still enough, but you shouldn't encourage them to do so.

The best part is probably the bird of prey spectacle. You will be delighted by : a show of vultures flight 2 inches above your head, mesmerizing eagles, owls and aras and ibis with wonderful colors and my favorite bird of prey: the amazing secretary bird with a demonstration of serpent crushing. I do not know of another zoo showing such a bird and especially not in free flight.

The birds are in free flight and a testimony to the good care the animals receive since they all return but are free to leave if they were to choose to do so.

There is also a show of hunting dog packs with a river of dogs. A must to see for dog enthusiasts.

Mega bonus : there is a small amusement park inside the zoo (free of charge) with many inflatable structures that will delight the kids. Warning : if you start your visit by this part you expose yourself to a tantrum trying to drag your kids off to see the animals.

Many animals present in this zoo are rare in the zoos I know of (firefoxes, mane wolves, tapirs, suricates, caracals, ...) but never elsewhere have I seen them in an artificial environment so beautiful (trees, islands, flowers, mixes of animals in the same cage otters and monkeys ...) making it a splendor...

Very well laid out with a route to follow and food and drink/picnic and toilet facilities in the center. The route you follow goes around the center and you are never far away from it so there are opportunities all the way around to dip into the centre for the toilets or food/drink so it's easy to plan your day/rest breaks.

The only hot drink facility was a single vending machine with card only paynent. Due to the limited facility there were often queues and multiple issues with the machine with either the payment not working/resetting or drinks half filling for most people wanting to use it around midday before a member of staff would eventually come to help.

I would put this down to overuse and recommend that the zoo buy another couple of hot drinks vending machines or also offering hot drinks at the food counter. I did try the counter but was directed to the machine.

The toilets in the center were unisex and there were 4 cubicles with no urinals. The queues weren't long though and tended to move quickly.

The zoo was well kept and had a really nice day overall. Apart from the hassle with the hot drinks (may not apply to everyone) It was a lovely day out and I highly recommend

There was a great variety of animals and having seen many bird shows but the one here was unlike others with a beautiful finale - I don't want to ruin the surprise but highly recommend! The dog show was great too with various displays from different breeds. There is plenty of seating but I'd recommend getting to the displays at least 30 min early during busy seasons (we were there mid Aug) to be sure to get a seat as they filled up about 15 mins before. Plenty of standing room and buggy/wheel chair access. The shows last about...

Travelled with toddler and strolle in October. This is a jack pot! Gorgeous place, good toddler food in a restaurant ( though yeah coffee is expensive but it's understandable, everything else is pretty cheap) -You can get some special popcorn at the entrance and feed the farm animals( no outside food ). Horseee was demanding the popcorn !:) -They have several playgrounds and a bonus free bouncing castle.though it was wet in the morning so plan to hit that the in afternoon. -Lots of interesting animals to watch, all very well taken care of and with a lot of space for them. Lemurs are so great !!! -All shows start after 2:30. -For us we wanted to hit a nap in a stroller and planned to start early, then food, then us walking with him in a stroller, then more stuff. Kiddo was Soo excited that didn't sleep untill 3 so we skipped the nap ;)

Views of the residence is stunning !! Good...